As one of eight Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, throwing Congress into chaos at a time when they have urgent work to do, Rep. Nancy Mace has faced a week of harsh criticism and uncomfortable real talk. Instead of listening, though, she leaned into her feelings of victimhood, plastering a large red letter “A” across her chest in an apparent nod to one of literature’s most famously persecuted characters.
Mace wore the shirt to a closed-door meeting with Republican candidates for speaker on Tuesday, proudly explaining to reporters that it was the “scarlet letter,” with an apparent obliviousness to what that means.
I usually think we should avoid calling out any woman’s fashion choices, instead focusing on, say, their lies about the insurrection, their weird obsession with Hunter Biden’s laptop, or their alignment with the far-right kooks of the so-called Freedom Caucus. But this one raises so many questions. Like, has she even read The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne’s famous 1850 novel about guilt, sin, and shame in Puritan Massachusetts? Does she have any idea what the “A” stands for? If she does, why would she wear that, and if she doesn’t, again, why would she wear that? Did she, or anyone on her staff, give any thought to this stunt at all?
Apparently not.
“I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week that I just had last week being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice,” Mace told reporters. “I’m here to let the rest of the world know and the country know I’m on the side of the people. I’m not on the side of the establishment, and I’m going to do the right thing every single time no matter the consequences. Because I don’t answer to anybody in DC, I don’t answer to anyone in Washington, I only answer to the people.”
Yikes. No, that’s not what that means at all. It might be hilarious if it wasn’t an ill-read extremist exerting a completely disproportionate level of power over congressional leadership.
Spoiler alert, The Scarlet Letter isn’t about just anyone’s feelings of persecution. First of all, it’s about actual persecution, not the imagined kind by a powerful public figure facing criticism for their actions. Secondly, it’s specifically about the persecution of a woman who has a child out of wedlock after an adulterous affair. The Puritans force her to wear the “A” as punishment, and she and her daughter are shunned by society. Although the meaning of the letter “A” evolves over the course of the story, first and foremost, it’s understood to stand for “adultery.”
If she’s not going to read the book, Mace should at least watch the movie Easy A, about a Hester Prynne-inspired character played by Emma Stone who wears the letter after gaining a reputation at her high school for promiscuity. Then Mace can decide if that’s a statement she wants to make too. Stone’s character manages to turn that reputation to her advantage, but importantly, she actually understands what point she’s making.
Meanwhile, the only point Mace seems to have been making was that she feels picked on. And this definitely didn’t help in that respect.
(featured photo: Sony Pictures)
